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The afterglow of the setting sun enveloped the arena, and the shadows of the buildings, along with the orange glow, shared the bluestone plaza. The examinees and the Magic Knights Squad Captains in the viewing stands awaited the final combat assessment.
"Number 18 versus Number 167!"
As Bai En and another person appeared in the center of the plaza, a faint murmur of discussion rose from the crowd.
"It's the last match. I hope these two finish quickly. I can't wait to see which Magic Knights Squad will pick me. If it's the Golden Dawn, that would be great; it's currently the top-ranked Magic Knights Squad."
"Commoner, don't get carried away just because you won the practical assessment." A noble beside him, holding a blue grimoire, sneered, "You picked someone weaker than yourself and are already gloating. How pathetic. Even if you join the Magic Knights, you won't amount to anything."
"You bastard..."
His companion pulled him back, a voice of persuasion ringing in his ear: "Brook, don't get agitated. From his attire, he must be a noble. We can't win against him."
"Tch~"
"That guy with the glowing white grimoire seems to be with the one who got the four-leaf clover grimoire. Wait... that guy's grimoire is so thin. It looks like it only has four or five pages?"
The examinees observed the two preparing for battle.
"Really? Damn it, if I had known there were people like this, I wouldn't have picked that other guy as my opponent." The curly-haired man regretted losing his practical assessment and envied those who had chosen easier opponents. Why didn't he have such luck?
"His opponent — wait, is that person?!"
Someone in the crowd recognized Bai En's opponent, "That's Grace Ulya, the Bloodthirsty Demon Wood!"
"The Bloodthirsty Demon Wood? What kind of disgusting title is that?"
"What do you know?" The guy who called out Bai En's opponent's name explained, "The Royal Capital often has nobles sponsoring a special exchange meeting, the purpose of which is to select children with special magical talents."
"But this year, this exchange meeting was forced to stop. The reason was Grace. From the Ulya family, he crippled everyone who lost to him. Every battle, blood would splatter all over the walls of the house."
"No commoner was willing to send their children to that exchange meeting again, and even nobles warned their children not to contend with him."
"I thought no one would choose him as an opponent for the practical assessment and he'd eventually be eliminated, but I never expected someone would dare..."
"Bai En is very strong!" The man's words were interrupted by a short, spiky-haired boy, "No matter if it's some bloodthirsty wood or construction wood."
"It's the Bloodthirsty Demon Wood!"
"Oh~ No matter who it is, he will win, because his opponent is me! And I am going to become the Wizard King!"
The surrounding crowd couldn't help but roll their eyes. This short guy had been shouting ever since he won, always saying unrealistic things. The Wizard King? What a joke! Is it something you can become just by saying it?
In the center of the arena, far from the crowd, Grace looked at the grimoire floating beside Bai En, a strange smile on his face: "I wanted to hunt a good opponent, but I ended up picking a waste."
"Waste?" Bai En was puzzled.
"Originally, I wanted to pick the Mage with the four-leaf clover grimoire, but someone beat me to it. I observed your other assessment items, they were all pretty good, but I didn't expect your grimoire to be so thin, much worse than a commoner's."
"Forget it. Although the cries of a genius are more pleasant, I don't dislike the hysterical shouts and cries of a waste either."
Bai En looked at the disfigured man with a long scar between his eyebrows. 'Is this guy a lunatic?'
Grace waved his hand downwards, and his emerald green grimoire quickly flipped pages, his teeth, revealed by his smile, sharp and sinister: "Feel the pain, then cry out loud! Don't be afraid, my trees will only pierce your skin!"
"Wood Magic, Wood Graft!"
Dozens of sharp, long wooden spikes materialized from green magic above Grace, suddenly thrusting towards Bai En, like a storm of arrows descending!
The long wooden spikes fell towards him, growing larger in Bai En's focused eyes, but he merely murmured softly: "So slow."
Magic power rippled silently within his body.
Bai En instantly appeared beside Grace, like a phantom, his calm voice like the scythe of the Grim Reaper: "Water Breathing, Zero Form, Draw Sword."
"First Form, Surface Slash."
The Zan'yan drawn from his grimoire unsheathed, a cold light flashed, and the blunt side of the blade cut across, unleashing a blue-and-white waterfall.
"Bang—"
Ripples spread through the air. Grace, as if struck by a heavy blow, flew sideways and embedded himself in the arena wall. Behind him, the sharp wooden spikes plunged into the ground, making a series of dull sounds.
The previously somewhat noisy crowd fell silent in an instant, as if they had been slapped hard.
In the setting sun, only the rustling wind and the glow of the sky remained.
"What... just... happened?"
A moment later, someone recovered, asking with wide eyes, word by word.
"He won in one hit? What the hell?"
In the viewing stands, the Magic Knights Squad Captains, who had been on the verge of dozing off from numerous boring duels, perked up. Yami Sukehiro, the Black Bulls Squad Captain, who had been smoking and yawning, focused his thoughts on the battle he had just witnessed.
Finral Roulacase, the Mage with spatial magic who ran errands behind him, murmured, "So fast. The opponent cast magic first, but before the magic even landed, he had already appeared next to the caster. Spatial magic?"
"No." Yami flicked the ash from his cigarette. "It's the same as the guy at the beginning who split the ladybug shell with a greatsword—muscle strength. But his power-exertion technique is clearly much better than that guy's. And... there's something else."
'If I didn't see wrong, that guy used reinforcement magic... And for a moment, when he reinforced his body with magic power, both his Ki and magic power perception became very faint, as if he had merged with nature.'
"Eh... so disgusting."
White smoke exhaled from his mouth, and Yami showed an extremely disgusted expression, "Just like that guy with the four-leaf clover grimoire from earlier, both of them are monsters."
William also watched Bai En's battle with Grace. 'The weapon drawn from his grimoire seems very similar to Yami's, yet there's a difference. The flowing water that swirled around the weapon just now—Water Magic?'
'No, there was no magic power fluctuation. It was more like a technique.'
It seemed to follow the same principle as a straight object bending and moving when a wrist shakes a pen.
'Unfortunately, his magic power isn't particularly strong, and with such a thin grimoire, the magic he can use is extremely limited. Technique can't compare to more adaptable magic. Compared to that young man with the four-leaf clover grimoire...'
..."Battle over! Number 167 wins! The assessment ends here."
"Now, examinees whose numbers are called, please come forward one by one."
"Number 1!"
In silence, a Magic Knights Squad Captain raised his hand, "Eliminated!"
"Number 2!"
Without giving anyone time to think, numbers were called out one by one. The tension persisted as no Magic Knights Squad Captain raised a hand, and the examinees' hearts were in their throats.
It wasn't until Number 71, when Goldor Boïsode, the Magic Knights Squad Captain of The Azure Orcas, raised his hand for the first time, that the almost silent, desperate atmosphere was finally broken.
"Someone got picked! That means others still have a chance."
The cruel selection method filtered out the elites among the examinees.
When "Number 165" Yuno was called, all nine Magic Knights Squad Captains simultaneously raised their hands. A roar erupted from the crowd.
"So amazing! All the Magic Knights Squad Captains raised their hands! Not just the Golden Dawn and the Crimson Lion Kings, who only recruit royalty and nobles, but even the Blue Rose Knights, who almost exclusively recruit women..."
"Indeed, is this what a genius is? Rules and all that..."
After Yuno, as expected, chose the strongest Magic Knights Squad, the Golden Dawn, to become the Wizard King, it was Asta, Number 166. After an awkward period of no one choosing him, Yami made a dramatic appearance, and Asta was ultimately chosen by Yami, the Black Bulls Squad Captain.
"Next, Number 167!"